We had an old stash of this type of instant film which hasn’t been manufactured for years now, so the ones we used were well out of date. The polaroids are temperature sensitive when processing, and most were taken in the winter in a very cold space. We warmed them on the body, guessing the temperature and the timing, the outcome was unpredictable. Ripping them open to reveal the developed photo felt like discovering a magical version of what was in front of the camera. The colours are rarely accurate, there are visible traces of processing chemicals, small air bubbles, and sometimes areas of damaged emulsions. It reinforced the perception that photography is not actually depicting ‘reality’, it is merely creating an image of it.
Below are some closeup details.